Oral History of Robert Paul Schweikher

ORAL HISTORY OF ROBERT PAUL SCHWEIKHER Interviewed by Betty J. Blum Compiled under the auspices of the Chicago Architects Oral History Project The Ernest R. Graham Study Center for Architectural Drawings Department of Architecture The Art Institute of Chicago Copyright © 1984 Revised Edition © 2000 The Art Institute of Chicago This manuscript is hereby made available for research purposes only. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publication, are reserved to the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries of The Art Institute of Chicago. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of The Art Institute of Chicago. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface to Revised Edition iv Outline of Topics vii Oral History 1 Biographical Profile 215 Selected References 217 Index of Names and Buildings 219 iii PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION It has been more than fifteen years since I met with Paul Schweikher (1903-1997) in his butte-top home in Sedona, Arizona, to record his recollections. His oral history was the Department of Architecture's pilot project, the first in what we hoped would become a one- of-a-kind collection of oral histories and interviews with Chicago architects. Today this unique data bank contains more than sixty-five transcriptions and is regularly consulted by scholars and students locally through the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago and worldwide via the Art Institute’s web page. At this time we are receiving frequent requests from American as well as international sources for information and excerpts from Schweikher's oral history. To better serve the increased research needs of today, we have revisited our original presentation and have reformatted the text to read more easily and accurately and have corrected typographical errors. The index and outline of topics have expanded and repaginated, the original bibliographic source list has been revised to pertain more closely to topics Schweikher speaks about, and a biographical profile has been added. Apart from these front and back matter revisions, nothing in the text has been altered. We trust that the user will find the Schweikher’s narrative more accessible because of these changes. In four consecutive sessions in July, 1984, Paul and I recorded thirteen and one-half hours of his memories of the events and people who he encountered in the course of his long multi- faceted career. The interview was taped on 9 ninety-minute cassettes and the transcription follows the order of the recordings except for three small portions recorded on tape nine that have been inserted, and are so indicated, in the body of the text where they are most relevant. References to published material mentioned in the text are listed in the attached references whenever known. The transcription has been minimally edited to maintain the spirit, tone and flow of Schweikher's original testimony. This oral history has provided data for interpretative material in a brochure, Architecture in Context: The Avant-Garde in Chicago's Suburbs, that accompanied an exhibition by the same name, of Schweikher's drawings at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts in 1984. Excerpts from Schweikher's oral history have been published in Inland Architect (November/December 1984), as well as quoted in the United States Department of iv the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form in 1986 requesting that Schweikher’s home and studio be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a distinction that it was granted. Today, with the ease of communication with computers and through the Internet, scholars worldwide have expressed a renewed interest in the career of an almost-forgotten practitioner and educator who defies classification. For those wanting to consult more material about Paul Schweikher, in addition to this oral history, architectural drawings and research material are at The Art Institute of Chicago; manuscript material is located at Syracuse University; additional drawings are located at Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff; and a photographic file is available at the Chicago Historical Society in the Hedrich-Blessing Archive. It is with appreciation that today I remember and thank Paul Schweikher, whose willingness to share his lifetime of recollections with candor and imagination made our many hours of recording a pleasant and memorable experience for me, and his wife and constant companion, Dorothy, whose quiet support and encouragement was ever present. This appreciation is tinged with sadness because Paul and Dorothy have both died in the interim. To Kai Bergin, our transcriber, we are grateful for the care and understanding with which she transcribed the recordings using the modest equipment of fifteen years ago. To Annemarie van Roessel, my colleague, who has coordinated all phases of the revision: scanning, repagination, reformatting, providing access on the Art Institute of Chicago's web page with exceptional skill, perception and judgment, go my sincere appreciation and thanks. We are grateful to the Illinois Humanities Council and to the National Endowment for the Humanities for funding this endeavor. Betty J. Blum April 2000 v OUTLINE OF TOPICS Early Experiences That Led to a Career in Architecture 1 Arrival in Chicago, 1922 7 Impression of Chicago and the Art Institute 8 Employment in the Office of Lowe and Bollenbacher, 1923-1925 11 Parsons Atelier 14 Employment in the Office of Russell Walcott, 1928 19 Employment in the Office of David Adler, 1925-1927 22 Study at Yale 38 Influences: Sheppard Stevens and Otto Faelton 41 Friendship with Ted Lamb 51 Buckminster Fuller 53 Employment in the Office of Philip Maher, 1931-1933 55 Designing Furniture for the Chicago Workshop: Lee Atwood and Marianne Willisch 59 Charles Eliason House and the MoMA Exhibition, 1933 63 Solar Studies with George Fred Keck 67 Opinion of the American Institute of Architects 69 AIA Architects' Balls 73 Schools and Ateliers in Chicago 75 Work Published in Architectural Journals 78 Designing for Industry, 1930s 81 Century of Progress, 1933-1934: Employment by General Houses 82 Partnership with Ted Lamb Including the General Electric Home Competition, 1935 87 Dushkin House and Studio, 1936 92 Political Sympathies in the 1930s and Military Service 96 Moholy-Nagy and Roundtable Talks at the Tavern Club 100 Clubs that Chicago Architects Favored 102 Mies van der Rohe, the Farnsworth House and Lawsuit 109 Travel in Japan, 1937, and Its Influence on Schweikher's Work 120 Roselle Home and Studio, 1938 122 Rinaldo House, Downers Grove, 1940 127 Glenview Co-operative Community, 1938-1941 131 vi Civic Design Committee, 1941 137 33rd Division Project 138 Influences on Schweikher's Work 141 Great Lakes Officers Housing, 1942 145 Lewis House, Park Ridge, 1940 147 Architectural Jury at the Arizona Biltmore Including a Visit to Taliesin West 150 Travel in Mexico, 1941 155 Schweikher and Elting Reorganize Their Firm 160 Unique Features of Schweikher's Houses and His Philosophy 166 International Congress of Modern Architecture 174 Several Projects 175 Structural Clay Products Exhibition House, 1950, and Dispute with the AIA 179 Frazel House, Wayne, Illinois: Miesian Influence and Mies 181 While at Yale 183 Maryville College Campus Buildings, Maryville, Tennessee 196 Move to Carnegie Mellon 198 H. D. Davis Rockwell House, Flossmoor, 1952 200 Influence on and Advice to Young Architects 202 Duquesne University: Buildings by Schweikher and Mies, 1962 204 Comparison of Craig Wright House, 1967, with Roselle Home and Studio, 1938 208 Reflections 210 Location of Schweikher’s Archival Materials, Photographs, and Drawings 213 vii Robert Paul Schweikher Blum: Today is July 6, 1984, and I'm with Paul Schweikher in his home in Sedona, Arizona. Mr. Schweikher, you were born in 1903 in Denver. What was there in your early years that helped you decide to become an architect? Schweikher: I think these replies, any replies, may be short because... Well, let me start over again. I would first have to ask what you mean by “early years”. Blum: Well, I suppose I consider your early years those years prior to college. Was your father an architect? Schweikher: My father was a musician, not a composer, but an instrumentalist on the piano and the organ. He was completely devoted to music. My mother, as well, was a soloist. I can think of nothing in the Western Institute of Music and Dramatic Art that would have acted as, or become, or been any introduction to architecture. No. Blum: During your early years where did you think you were headed, career-wise? Schweikher: When I got to the point of thinking about it at all—which was probably in my first year of college at the University of Colorado—I chose, wisely or unwisely, the profession of engineering, with an emphasis not on structure, which might have been an inkling of architecture, but on electric engineering. I soon found, I think, that there was no road there for me, both in terms of interest and of difficulty. There was no prodding interest to overcome the mathematical and theoretical ramifications that electrical engineering seemed to have in store. I did poorly at the university in mathematics and paid very little attention to the theoretical part. It was a pleasant sociable 1 year in which I met Dorothy, my wife to be. Blum: Was she in electrical engineering? Schweikher: No. She went to the University of Denver and for some reason or other we were at the same party—I think it was a fraternity party—and I met her there. I realize, Betty, that I'm not freewheeling and this will take perhaps a little while, but if you want me to pursue this further... Blum: Well, what I'd like to know is how, from a musical family, you went into electrical engineering and somehow wound up in architecture.

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